Current Events > Alabama refuses compensation for innocent man who spent 30 years on death row

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://eji.org/news/alabama-refuses-compensation-to-anthony-ray-hinton-innocent-man-who-spent-30-years-death-row

Since Anthony Ray Hinton was exonerated and released from death row over two years ago, Alabama lawmakers have not only refused to compensate him for the three decades he spent on death row for a crime he did not commit, but also passed legislation changing the appeals process in death penalty cases so that innocent people like Mr. Hinton now face an even greater risk of being executed.

One of the longest serving death row prisoners in Alabama history and among the longest serving condemned prisoners to be freed after presenting evidence of innocence, Mr. Hinton became the 152nd person exonerated from death row since 1983 when he was released on April 3, 2015.

Alabama law provides that compensation may be awarded to a wrongfully incarcerated person if the Committee on Compensation for Wrongful Incarceration finds that he meets the eligibility criteria, but applying for compensation is often a meaningless exercise because the statute requires a legislative enactment to appropriate the necessary funds. Mr. Hinton's application was approved by the committee, and this session, State Senator Paul Bussman sponsored a bill to appropriate the funds to compensate Mr. Hinton. The bill never even made it out of committee.

At the same time, Republican lawmakers introduced the "Fair Justice Act." As Mr. Hinton wrote in an op-ed, had the "Fair Justice Act" been in place when he was convicted, "I would have been executed despite my innocence." Like other men and women sentenced to death in Alabama, where there is no state-funded office to provide counsel for postconviction proceedings, it took years to find volunteer lawyers willing and able to provide the legal assistance Mr. Hinton needed to prove his innocence. Mr. Hinton wrote:

Because the so called "Fair Justice Act" now pending before the state legislature puts time restrictions on how long death row prisoners have to prove their innocence or a wrongful conviction, this legislation increases the risk of executing innocent people and makes our system even less fair.
Indifferent to these concerns, the Alabama legislature passed the new law this spring, making it more difficult to obtain adequate counsel and imposing more unfair filing requirements. By making the state postconviction process even more complicated and arbitrary, the law increases the likelihood that clients on death row will not receive full and fair review of their cases.

"No one knows the hardship created by our inefficient system more than I do," Mr. Hinton wrote. "No one." But rather than pass reforms to prevent another innocent person from being wrongfully convicted and condemned to death, Mr. Hinton cautioned, Alabama is moving in the opposite direction.

Executions are carried out in the name of the people of Alabama and we should all be concerned if we make our system less reliable and the execution of innocent people more likely.

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So Alabama saw an innocent man get released from death row and figured the problem was he wasn't killed before he was released.

HOLY SHIT
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No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.
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Ignore him.
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The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Expected Addy. Got Addy.
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The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Yeeeeaaah fuck that. Give this man a house rent free plus food stamps for life. They fucked his life up, they need to offer him something if not a job with some training.
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KStateKing17 posted...

The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Yeeeeaaah fuck that. Give this man a house rent free plus food stamps for life. They fucked his life up, they need to offer him something if not a job with some training.

Admiral loves big government
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hockeybub89 posted...

The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Expected Addy. Got Addy.

Likewise, I expected an emotional reply for you and a continued inability to make any sort of argument against a post that upsets you.
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KiwiTerraRizing posted...

So Alabama saw an innocent man get released from death row and figured the problem was he wasn't killed before he was released.

HOLY SHIT

Worst state ever
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The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Wrong
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The Admiral posted...

hockeybub89 posted...

The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Expected Addy. Got Addy.

Likewise, I expected an emotional reply for you and a continued inability to make any sort of argument against a post that upsets you.

Here's a response. If the government fucks you over, then they should be forced to reimburse you.
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The Admiral posted...

hockeybub89 posted...

The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Expected Addy. Got Addy.

Likewise, I expected an emotional reply for you and a continued inability to make any sort of argument against a post that upsets you.

Hey. Serious question

Can you take this quiz?
https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/psychopathy.htm


like please ACTUALLY take the test and respond back

The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

I usually don't hop on the Addy bandwagon, but my goodness...
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hockeybub89 posted...

Here's a response. If the government fucks you over, then they should be forced to reimburse you.

Did you read and comprehend my post? Doesn't look like it, so I'll explain as if you're a child again.

If the government does something fraudulent or illegal, which is fucking him over, I agree.

If the government presents a fair case, and the jury does not believe his defense, that's not the government's fault.
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www.eji.org seems like a completely fair and unbiased source.
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30 years of your life gone because of someone else's mistake and you get squat.
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The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

I know that sometimes you troll and I think this post is one of those times.
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The Admiral posted...

If the government presents a fair case,

The Supreme Court has ruled that his trial was not fair, given the deep flaws with his defense
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/03/how-the-case-against-anthony-hinton-on-death-row-for-30-years-unraveled/?utm_term=.0809e74972c8

Hinton’s breakthrough came last year when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that his constitutional right to a fair trial had been violated. The high court overturned his conviction after finding that Hinton’s defense attorney at the time had hired an “expert” witness — a trained civil engineer Andrew Payne Jr. — whom the attorney viewed as “inadequate” because he didn’t think he was allowed to spend more than $1,000 to hire a more qualified one.

It was easy for prosecutors to discredit Hinton’s defense expert: Payne had one eye and could hardly see through the forensic microscope, and he had limited experience evaluating ballistic evidence for trials.

thelovefist posted...

www.eji.org seems like a completely fair and unbiased source.

There are no unbiased sources. But do you think the story is misleading or wrong as presented by this one?
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I think he should be given compensation. If an innocent person goes to jail, then there was a problem with the criminal justice system that took away a huge part of that person's life. It may not have been intentional, that innocent person still had their life turned upside down. And it's one thing that I'm comfortable with my tax dollars going towards.
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The Admiral posted...

hockeybub89 posted...

Here's a response. If the government fucks you over, then they should be forced to reimburse you.

Did you read and comprehend my post? Doesn't look like it, so I'll explain as if you're a child again.

If the government does something fraudulent or illegal, which is fucking him over, I agree.

If the government presents a fair case, and the jury does not believe his defense, that's not the government's fault.

Well the jury likely can't pay him back. Juries are serving the government and their incompetence put an innocent man behind bars, therefore the government should pay the man back for the failure.
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Admiral is saying that if there wasn't any intentional wrong doing in the trial, no reperations should be made. I guess I see what he's saying, but I don't agree with that. I guess it depends on how you view the govt role in an issue like this
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The Admiral posted...

If the government presents a fair case, and the jury does not believe his defense, that's not the government's fault.

So turn a blind eye and don't fault anyone for a wrongful conviction? I mean why would they care, it wasn't their 30 years gone down the drain.
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Can't do the crime, don't do tht time. He shouldn't have been released in the first place.

The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Can you just fucking leave this website
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The Admiral posted...

hockeybub89 posted...

Here's a response. If the government fucks you over, then they should be forced to reimburse you.

Did you read and comprehend my post? Doesn't look like it, so I'll explain as if you're a child again.

If the government does something fraudulent or illegal, which is fucking him over, I agree.

If the government presents a fair case, and the jury does not believe his defense, that's not the government's fault.

Yes, because the government is completely faultless in charging the WRONG PERSON in the first place. Of course.
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Malcolm_Caradoc posted...

The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

Can you just fucking leave this website

Had the balls to say who your main is yet?
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Addy has gone full shitpost
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iamintents posted...

Addy has gone full shitpost

As memory serves, this is a long-held belief of his, and not some new wrinkle.
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The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

If you read the article, it tells you they actually did fuck up. But expecting you to be able to read is a hopeless exercise.
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Admiral gonna Admiral
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Hinton also was charged related to the July 26, 1985 shooting of Quincy's night manager Sid Smotherman Jr., who was shot in the head and hand in a robbery at the Bessemer restaurant. Smotherman survived and testified at Hinton's trial that he was driving home after work when Hinton bumped his car, and when he got out to check for damage Hinton forced him at gunpoint to drive back to the restaurant.

This was the only credible evidence against him for at least one of the robberies. The witness could be a white guy and therefore may have had some trouble identifying black suspects. The other "evidence" was ballistics, which is often shaky forensics, as it was in this case. The state should be held accountable for employing such "evidence" to obtain a conviction. A lot of this "forensic" stuff has not been subjected to peer review in scientific journals.

k darkfire posted...

Can't do the crime, don't do tht time. He shouldn't have been released in the first place.

What?
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Antifar posted...

Because the so called "Fair Justice Act" now pending before the state legislature puts time restrictions on how long death row prisoners have to prove their innocence or a wrongful conviction

We are officially in the era of newspeak/doublespeak, right?
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EbonTitanium posted...

k darkfire posted...

Can't do the crime, don't do tht time. He shouldn't have been released in the first place.

What?

For 30 years all he's known is jail and in jail all you learn is to be a better criminal, the guy being out is a threat to society that way, should have just transferred his sentence to life./sociopath thinking
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The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

So the government has no responsibility to this person that they locked up wrongly for 30 years? You really are a shit bag of a human being.
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DifferentialEquation posted...

I think he should be given compensation. If an innocent person goes to jail, then there was a problem with the criminal justice system that took away a huge part of that person's life. It may not have been intentional, that innocent person still had their life turned upside down. And it's one thing that I'm comfortable with my tax dollars going towards.

When a certifiable right-wing loon like DE actually sounds more human than The Admiral
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Antifar posted...

iamintents posted...

Addy has gone full shitpost

As memory serves, this is a long-held belief of his, and not some new wrinkle.

Sad
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ImAMarvel posted...

KStateKing17 posted...

Give this man a house rent free plus food stamps for life. They fucked his life up, they need to offer him something if not a job with some training.

This.

Thisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthis.

A million dollars for each year he was in prison. Really, no amount of money can make up for something like this. The psychological damage of living on death row for 30 years.

The Admiral posted...

No reason prisoners should be given compensation by the government for wrongful convictions unless the prosecutor or police actually did something fraudulent/illegal to taint the case.

But is not trying the person, and everything that comes with it the government's responsibility? They were the ones that arrested him, no? They tried, covincted and then held him. He was exonerated.

Do you think they're not at fault at all? I mean, I'm just trying to understand your point. If they didn't go wrong, who did? Who's on the hook for taking this man's life away?
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Eat More Beef posted...

Do you think they're not at fault at all? I mean, I'm just trying to understand your point. If they didn't go wrong, who did? Who's on the hook for taking this man's life away?

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DifferentialEquation posted...

I think he should be given compensation. If an innocent person goes to jail, then there was a problem with the criminal justice system that took away a huge part of that person's life. It may not have been intentional, that innocent person still had their life turned upside down. And it's one thing that I'm comfortable with my tax dollars going towards.

**** that! My tax dollars should be going to increasing our military instead!
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Eat More Beef posted...

Do you think they're not at fault at all? I mean, I'm just trying to understand your point. If they didn't go wrong, who did? Who's on the hook for taking this man's life away?

those got-damn liberals!
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OpheliaAdenade posted...

30 years of your life gone because of someone else's mistake and you get squat.

Might as well have given him all the reason in the world to justify going on a massive crime spree to put him back in.
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GhettoFlip posted...

DifferentialEquation posted...

I think he should be given compensation. If an innocent person goes to jail, then there was a problem with the criminal justice system that took away a huge part of that person's life. It may not have been intentional, that innocent person still had their life turned upside down. And it's one thing that I'm comfortable with my tax dollars going towards.

When a certifiable right-wing loon like DE actually sounds more human than The Admiral

I'm not a loon.
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How can people defend this .
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cjsdowg posted...

How can people defend this .

By ignoring the facts of the case.

cjsdowg posted...

How can people defend this .

by having an unhealthy obsession with law enforcement on dying video game message board
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